Friday, June 3, 2011

Refolding Time

So often I forget that the quilts I have on racks or draped over bannisters need to be refolded periodically to avoid faded spots. I think it is that time again. As I work I will share with you some of the beauties on the quilt racks. I think today I will stick to the ones my mother has made. They are all hand quilted and I treasure them. Yes, I do use them on my bed (see my first post "Quilting Roots" for a photo of her Storm at Sea on our bed), but when my children were little and climbing on the bed with sticky fingers, etc., these quilts were for display only.

First I have to tell you about this quilt rack. It was made for me by my nearest neighbor to the south. He is retired and loves woodworking. He had made these racks for his daughters, daughter-in-law and a friend. I saw one and complimented him on a beautiful job and he proceeded to make me one. It is made of red oak that came from Nauvoo, Illinois. He was there at the Old Nauvoo historic sites tending horses and giving carriage rides. One day a storm blew down some trees in the pasture where the horses were kept. He and another fellow woodworker received permission to harvest the wood. Family members brought a trailer to help haul it back home to Utah. He built this rack from the last of that wood and I stained it. I love the mission style and had been looking for a quilt rack to go with my mission style living room.

This quilt was made using a Pepper Cory template and pattern. I had just learned how to do these curved seams and was anxious to show my Mom. As has happened on many other occasions, I showed her the technique and she ran with it, completing a full quilt. I tuck my little sample away and believe in my heart that someday I, too, will make such a quilt.

Mom made this 2" square, on point, trip-around-the-world quilt at a time when my Dad was traveling with his work. She would occasionally accompany him, and she would hand piece some of the squares as they drove along. She thinks she hand pieced about 1/3 of the top--the rest is by machine. This was one of her sweepstakes quilts at the county fair.

The quilt below was created based on a quilt featured on the cover of a magazine years ago. I won't stop to look up which one, but I know it was designed by Mabeth Oxenreider. She calls it a triple four patch, though I know this design is out there as a double four patch, as well. I saw the magazine at the checkout, bought it immediately, brought it home and started putting fabrics from my stash that I thought would work into a box for that "someday" when I would do this project. A few months later Mom asked if I still had that magazine and could she borrow it. When the quilt was finished and she gave it to me I pulled the fabrics from the box and put them back on my shelves. She saved me a lot of time!!

This last quilt was made with many actual vintage fabrics, not repros. All but the dark pink and the background were in a box of fabrics given to my Mom by a friend whose mother had died. The mom had been a quilter, but the daughter was a spinner and weaver, so she wanted the fabrics to go to someone who would appreciate them. I don't usually lean in this direction colorwise, but this quilt has a special place in my heart. Not only did I know the woman well who gave my mom the fabric, but I received it when I was very ill. I had been in bed for days and my DH and 4 children had been fending for themselves. I don't often get that sick. One day as I lay in my darkened room my Mom paid me a visit with this quilt in her arms. She spread it over me and said she thought I needed something colorful and bright to cheer me up. What an angel! I keep this quilt on a rack in my bedroom when I don't actually have it on my bed. It reminds me of my Mother's service and that I need to be more like her.

Everything is refolded and back on the racks now. Someday in the future I will need to do the bannister quilts. Those are mostly vintage quilt tops or vintage blocks that I have made into tops.

'Til next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows, and the melted mountain snow overflows,

Janet O.

p.s. I have been playing around with my blog design. It may look different each time for a while, as I find what works for me.

About Me

My priorities are my faith, family, freedom and fun. I have a wonderful husband, four great grown children and five precious grandchildren. I love to quilt, read, walk, garden, make soap, watch old movies and play Euro-style board games. I am trying to come to terms with gluten-free baking.